The Food Standards Agency is reminding people to follow some simple safety steps this Christmas when preparing their turkeys, to help keep the festive period free from the misery of food poisoning. Many people aren’t used to cooking such large meal, so remembering and sticking to the basic rules should mean food poisoning is one less thing to worry about over Christmas. If you buy a frozen turkey make sure it’s completely thawed before you cook it by checking there are no ice crystals... ...Read more »

Milk and meat from the offspring of cloned animals would not need to carry labels informing consumers of the origin of the food, the UK’s food-safety watchdog has argued. A meeting of the Food Standards Agency board yesterday agreed that the mandatory labelling of milk meat from the descendants of cloned cattle and pigs would be “unnecessary and disproportionate”. The use of such labels would provide “no significant food safety benefit to consumers”, the FSA board said. The... ...Read more »

The UK’s Food Standards Agency has said that milk and meat from cloned cattle and their progeny is “hypothetically” safe. A meeting of the UK food watchdog’s Advisory Committee of Novel Foods and Processes considered what the FSA termed a “hypothetical application” to approve cloned milk and meat. There has been much debate in the UK over the safety of meat from cloned animals after meat from the progeny of a cloned cow entered the food chain in the UK in August. Following... ...Read more »

The UK Food Standards Agency is reminding caterers and consumers of the importance of refrigerating fish properly, following a number of incidents involving scombrotoxic fish poisoning during the (UK) summer. Scombrotoxic fish poisoning is linked to eating fish from the family that includes tuna, mackerel, and herring. It is caused when fish and fish products are not refrigerated correctly. Warmer temperatures allow bacteria to multiply and produce a chemical called histamine at levels that can... ...Read more »

The UK Food Standards Agency is reminding people of its advice not to eat a type of seaweed called hijiki because it contains high levels of inorganic arsenic. Inorganic arsenic is known to increase people’s risk of getting cancer.This reminder follows a notification from the European Commission to the Agency about a brand of hijiki seaweed, Clearspring, which was found to contain high levels of arsenic. The Agency is advising people to avoid all hijiki on sale in the UK. We are advising people... ...Read more »

The UK Food Standards Agency last week traced animals born in the UK from eight embryos produced by a cloned cow in the US. Four of these embryos were male calves and four were female. All were Holstein animals, a breed mainly used for dairy production.Since the previous update published on 4 August, the Agency has received assurances from the local authorities that visited the farms, the dairy industry and the farmers involved that no milk from the remaining two dairy cows has entered the food chain.... ...Read more »

 ”It can be extremely worrying for parents when they suspect their child has a food allergy, but wrongly diagnosing someone with a food allergy could also have a serious negative effect on their health” says Food Standards Agency’s Chief Scientist Andrew Wadge.The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just published for comment a draft clinical practice guideline on food allergy in children and young people – which Wadge hopes will mean greater... ...Read more »

The UK’s Food Standards Agency has released a statement confirming that meat from the offspring of a cloned cow has been sold to consumers in the UK. Related claims of dairy from the offspring of cloned animals being sold have not yet been substantiated. While meat and dairy from cloned animals has been approved in the United States for two years, the UK regulations consider it a ‘novel food’: a food or food ingredient that does not have a significant history of consumption in the... ...Read more »

The Food Standards Agency, the UK food watchdog, will lose its remit over nutrition and labelling after the coalition government confirmed it would revamp the agency.The UK’s Department of Health (DoH) said last night (20 July) that the FSA will have a “renewed focus” on food safety in the country. The announcement came after reports last week claimed the FSA was set to be disbanded. Responsibility over nutrition and labelling will switch to the DoH and the Department for Food,... ...Read more »

The issue of nutrition labelling reared its head last week after the EU’s politicians voted for the food on sale in the region to carry guideline daily amounts and not traffic lights. It’s a debate that has rumbled on for years and that generates fierce argument on both sides. There are those, predominantly consumer groups but also companies like UK retailer Sainsbury’s, who believe traffic lights make it easier for shoppers to choose healthier food. However, there are those –... ...Read more »